BOISE, Idaho — A viral video of a 15-year-old boy being arrested in front of his crying mother for making online threats against his school has a lot of people talking today.
She begs police not to arrest her son.
The boy threatened to kill at least seven people at his school. He told investigators it was a joke.
But police in Central Florida are releasing the video to underline the consequences of making school threats.
So when is a joke just a joke and not an arrestable offense?
KTVB spoke with a student resource officer with the Boise School District for some clarification on what zero tolerance means.
Joke or not -- school threats aren't tolerated.
We saw that in the Florida case and Boise Police say the same thing would have happened here.
In fact, last year the law in Idaho got stricter when it comes to making a threat against people on school property.
Before, you had to be on school property to be charged with a crime. Now, that's not the case.
Sgt. Joe Martinez is the head of the Student Resource Officer Division for the Boise Police Department. He says even if you send a threat over the internet or verbally, you can be arrested.
"Whether people are joking or just frustrated and venting it doesn't matter, it's something we'll be doing those interviews, doing that follow up, we're going to be doing everything we can to make sure students at the schools are safe, and we're going to be eliminating any threats coming across, and if that's putting someone in jail or juvenile detention then that's what's going to happen unfortunately," said Martinez.
He says it's a misdemeanor charge, but if you are found to have weapons to carry out an act of violence, that is a felony.
Police really rely on the community to report any threats.
Parents should talk to your kids about speaking up.
Anyone can report anonymously to Crime Stoppers by calling 343-COPS.
Martinez says school resource officers are there to listen to students’ concerns.